Red centre bounce: Jurrah makes a big leap in any language

Some players who arrive in the AFL can't kick accurately, or
fumble and drop marks. Then there are psychological impediments: a
lack of self-confidence, too much aggression, not enough
concentration.

For Melbourne's Liam Jurrah, the barrier is the English
language, a skill that comes less easily to him than taking marks.
This is understandable, since English isn't the Warlpiri man's
native tongue. The Demons believe it is his third language.

Mindful of the enormous challenges Jurrah faces in sharing his
thoughts with teammates and coaches - and of the importance of
communication in an increasingly complex game - the Demons have
seen to it that their No.1 draft pick in the pre-season draft
attends English classes.

Last week, Jurrah began English tutorials under the AFL Players'
Association's literacy and numeracy program. He isn't the only
player in the program - there are several others of varying
capacities - but he is a special case, in that he isn't learning to
speak his mother tongue.

Jurrah is fluent in the Warlpiri language, which Melbourne's
development coach, Ian Flack, believed might be spoken by as few as
500 people. He also has the command of a second indigenous
language, but his English is limited.

Jurrah, 20, is what Flack described as a "trainee elder" of the
Warlpiri people; some day in the future, he will become an elder of
his remote tribe in Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice
Springs.

"It's been decided that he'll be an elder when he's older," said
Flack, who has assisted Jurrah in assimilating into Melbourne
 the city and football club. Flack says Jurrah's biggest
challenge is to speak, rather than comprehend or read, English.

Jurrah, indeed, likes to read the newspaper and, as Flack and
others attest, he can understand English fine. The struggle is to
voice and converse in the words himself, a common experience for
those who attempt second (or third) languages.

"He's a very intelligent bloke," says Flack, who sought to place
Jurrah's language situation into perspective for some teammates,
telling them, "It's the equivalent of you speaking German and
Italian and English."

Recruited through that quintessentially Collingwood coterie
group, the Industrial Magpies, Jurrah played for Collingwood's VFL
team last year, managing four matches before he returned to
Yuendumu, a desert community, because a close friend was dying.

He returned to Melbourne, but the Magpies, clearly mindful of
the vast cultural distance Jurrah had to travel (Industrial Magpies
supporters group member and Jurrah friend Bruce Hearn Mackinnon
says Jurrah had never been in the ocean until a Collingwood
recovery session), chose not to pursue him, and he did not even
nominate for the national draft. Other clubs took a similarly
risk-averse view, although he trained briefly with North
Melbourne.

Former Collingwood grand final player Rupert Betheras
intervened, lobbied the AFL and saw to it that Jurrah was permitted
to nominate for the pre-season draft. While national draft
nomination is normally mandatory for those picked in the pre-season
draft, the AFL ruled that Jurrah had "exceptional circumstances"
and admitted him.

As it turned out, only one club had a crack at picking him.

Austin Wonaeamirri and Aaron Davey, both indigenous players from
the Northern Territory, have been helping Jurrah adjust to club
life, but the Demons have found it difficult to find accommodation
for him and his partner, who are looking for a two-bedroom home;
Jurrah has been staying with Hearn Mackinnon.

The AFLPA player development manager, former Essendon ruckman
Steve Alessio, heads the players' literacy and numeracy program,
which is not compulsory. The AFLPA tests all of the league's
130-odd new players' literacy and numeracy when they arrive at
their clubs.

"It's voluntary, and sometimes, some players for whatever
reason, won't decide to seek that assistance," says Alessio, who
cannot recall a past player for whom English was a second
language.

Since the literacy classes are confidential, Alessio would not
comment on Jurrah's situation, except to say: "He's got his
challenges in terms of what he needs to work through in his first
year, like every player, or every first-year player has their own
challenges.

"Liam's probably got a few more, having come from a remote
community, as a lot of indigenous players do."

Jurrah's capacity to express himself is compounded, too, by
shyness. For Melbourne, helping him with his English isn't simply
for the Warlpiri elder-in-waiting's benefit.

"It just makes you feel a bit uncomfortable when you can't
understand him," Flack says.